Sleeping was bliss. Schula and I were curled up on Mila's bed. Nassir insisted on blankets on the floor again, and we were too tired to argue. If he grew uncomfortable, I suppose he could just moved the ground as he saw fit anyway. Once that was all decided it only took a few moments for us to all fall asleep. And sleep we did.
Sleeping out in the open was nice, but there was something warm and safe and comfortable about sleeping in a house. A tiny one room house, much like the one I grew up in. My defenses were able to completely melt away, and I slept.
When my eyelids were finally willing to open again, the sun had already peaked and was starting it's downhill journey into the afternoon. Schula was next to me still very much asleep. Nassir had made himself comfortable by the low fire. Puko was still sleeping, perched at the foot of the bed.
I sat up carefully, trying not to disturb anyone as I stepped through the room and out the front door. I left my boots off, feeling the earth beneath my feet. A small breeze was brushing by me as I closed the door to the cabin, and the smell of promised rain was in the air.
I took a deep breath of the sweet afternoon air and turned to take in my surroundings. The witches of the valley seemed to have recovered from the sight of us, because they had gone on with their day. Gardening and weaving and tending to animals. One was butchering nearby in the open air, and my stomach growled at the thought of dinner.
"Gossips, the lot of them," Mila scoffed from a chair around the corner.
I walked over with a smile on my face. "Mila, I didn't see you there."
She was sitting, hunched over a basket as she peeled carrots. I sat down on the ground next to her and began helping.
"Did you sleep well?" Mila asked.
"I did," I replied. "It's been a while since I've slept in a bed."
She grunted. "I suppose you haven't."
We peeled carrots in silence and I let my ears pick up the sounds of the valley around us. Insects buzzed and plants rustled in the breeze. It was peaceful.
"The first thing you need to know as a witch, is that we are all sisters under the Mother." Mila broke the silence. I already knew that, but I wasn't about to interrupt her.
"As sisters, we are all of one coven in this world." Mila continued. "This valley is a homeland where we pilgrimage to teach our new witches and to conference about more dire threats. When the call came for me to return, it was the morning before the raid on Silver Lake."
My throat went dry. That was the day Bryn died. A lot of people died.
"The witches, we have eyes everywhere. We watch over the world in the name of the Mother. And when many of our witches began to raise alarm over a concern, we come here to hold conference."
"What are you conferencing about?" I asked.
Mila sighed and set down her carrot, picking up a new one to peel. "We have had a lot of suspicious reports from the edge of the Wyldes. There has also been the concerning activity of that war-monger who leads the plains raiders. I know not if they are connected, but we are here discussing what we can do about it."
I nodded, remembering the day I saw the raiders. "They are affecting more than just the plains now, aren't they?"
"Yes, child," Mila said. "But that is not your concern. Right now, you have business to go about with the Wyldes, do you not?"
I frowned. "I do. I... I want to help. I've started to make a home there, and this time I'm going to fight to keep it."
Mila nodded. "Good. Perhaps this time you can convince the mule-headed fae to keep a witch around. But you must first become a proper witch, and for that we will need to test your strengths."
"You mean I need to learn what powers I've inherited and what I can do with them," I said.
Mila nodded, a ghost of a smile crossing her lips. "Yes. Gelwyn demands to test you herself."
"I don't know how much I like this Gelwyn," I said softly.
"Hmm. Like her or not, child, she does have a great deal of influence in the coven. And I'll not be letting her do anything uncalled for. But someone must give you the tests as we have all been given them, and it cannot be the witch who helped raise you. It is our way." Mila sat back, giving up on her carrots for a moment and resting her back.
"So I will be tested for witch magics, and then I will elarn how to use them?" I asked.
Mila nodded.
"And then I can discuss the information I'm after with the coven?" I asked.
"Yes, then you will have earned your right to ask anything of them. Our young witchlings spend years learning their chosen crafts, but you will find yourself at an advantage," Mila said.
"Years?" I asked, desperately. "I don't have years, I have to get back!"
"Now, Wren," Mila said sternly. "It is our way, and there is no way around it, but I promise you it will not take years."
I held back my tongue, there was no arguing with Mila. I suppose if it was taking too long I could choose to leave early, but I really wanted to know how we could repair the wards. Ideally, I would ask for their help.
"Come, grab that basket." Mila stood from her chair with a grunt. "You can help me bring the extra carrots to Gilly."
I perked up at that. "Gilly?"
Mila didn't answer redundant questions, and I didn't expect her to. Instead she began walking and I grabbed the indicated basket and followed her.
Gilly would often visit for a solstice or moon watching. She liked to braid my hair and teach me to dance under the night sky and to identify birds. Of all of Mila's friends she was my favorite.
We walked off the dirt path and through the grass. I still had no boots on, but there weren't many sticks or stones to be an obstacle and Mila couldn't walk fast anyway so I easily kept pace with her. We rounded a pen with two goats, and went over a small bump of a hill before reaching another cottage where little white flowers trellised up the doorway.
"Gilly!" Mila called. "I brought your carrots."
From the doorway, a head poked out that was maybe twice my age. She had long dark hair that she could just about sit on, and her cheeks were painted with the blue dots of the Palaw villages in the mountains west of my home. Her lips spread into a wide grin and she came out of her cottage with arms wide open.
"Wren, it is so good to see you!" She wrapped me in a fierce hug and I laughed as I hugged her back fiercely.
She pulled me back at arms length with a sigh. "Look at you. What has it been, two years? And you've changed so much."
I grinned sheepishly. "I may have had a few things come up lately."
Her eyes sparkled with mirth as she laughed. "So I've heard! I can hardly imagine you to be Lark's daughter, but now it seems so obvious. You have her hair, and her face."
"You knew her?" I asked as she took the basket of carrots from my hand.
"Oh yes, everyone did. She was a rather infamous witch you know. Traveling around the world, not satisfied to sit still and watch over one part of the Mother's lands like the rest of us. She taught me to read the star charts you know."
"She did?" I blinked and looked over to Mila.
"Aye, she did. That Lark was always visiting the witches and trying to solve problems that weren't hers to solve," Mila said. "Gilly isn't the only one you'll meet who remembers her here, child."
I looked down into the valley around us. Gilly and Mila were higher on the ridge before it all backed into tall cliffs. It gave them a good view of the activity around the courtyard in the middle of it all. Witches were gossiping in small groups as they went about their daily business.
"They'll know my mother," I murmured as I watched.
"Mila tells me you're going to learn our craft?" Gilly said excitedly. "If you have a knack for potion brewery I hope you come to me to learn it."
I smiled at that. "Of course, Gilly."
"Mila, any ideas of what she can do yet?" Gilly asked, turning to the older woman.
Mila, who never answered anything lightly, stared at me as she spoke slowly. "Thanks to her patronage, she has a hand for witchfire. But for all her raw power, I don't know how much of it is useful for the intuitive arts."
"That's reading bones, building wards, that kind of thing." Gilly explained for me. "If you have a hand for witch fire, then you're more likely to take to the physical arts than the unseen ones."
"Oh," I said, still unclear. "So what is potion brewing then?"
"Physical." Gilly beamed at me. "After your assessment, you come to me first. You hear me?"
"Yes Gilly," I smiled.
"Good." She nodded and finally took a moment to inspect her carrots. "Oh, thank you for the food by the way. I have your milk over here."
Gilly set her basket of carrots inside before she cane back out and rounded the corner of her cottage. She lifted a large ceramic bottle with a small cork in the top of it.
"Thank you," Mila said.
"So who is assessing Wren?" Gilly asked. "The word around the coven is Gelwyn, but surely she has better things to do."
Mila just stared at Gilly and I gave her a hopeless look.
"No," Gilly half whispered. "That busybody. Well, she'll be fair. The whole valley will be watching."
"Hm," Mila grunted. "I'll make sure of it."
"You're her guardian? Well, of course you would be." Gilly nodded.
And I was so lost.
"Um, I'm not sure I'm following all of it," I said. "What is the valley watching? What is my guardian?"
Mila gave me a soft look and placed her wrinkled hand on my shoulder. "Your guardian watches over your test and can help guide you through them. Your mother would have been your guardian, but I will have to do."
I nodded, glad to have Mila by my side. "And the whole valley will be watching?"
Gilly nodded. "Many will. When one of us brings a young witch here to see what her strengths are and to learn from the coven, it is a public affair. Any are allowed to watch. Don't worry, they are short and you aren't expected to perform well. It's just to see what you may or may not be able to do."
"And when is this test?" I asked meekly.
"Tonight," Mila said. "I argued a good bit with Gelwyn to get even that much. She insisted at first that I wake you all up and make you test as soon as possible."
Gilly snorted. "Who does she think she is?"
"The valley keeper," Mila said flatly, then turned to me to explain. "She lives in this valley even when the witches are not called together. She protects it, and protects the barriers that don't let outsiders wander in through the caves."
"There were barriers?" I asked surprised.
"Yes, child. You and anyone touching you would be allowed in, now that your heritage is no longer sealed up," Mila said.
"But I wasn't touching..." The Scarf. It was tied to me and Schula and Nassir held onto it. "We were all toughing, I think."
Gilly nodded. "And that's how you all made it through. And Gelwyn will have known as soon as you entered, since it's her responsibility."
"Does the valley keeper always test the young witches then?" I asked.
Mila shook her head. "No. Anyone but your guardian can do it."
"Gelwyn just wants the job because she needs to know you aren't better than she is," Gilly said as she rolled her eyes.
That surprised me. "Why in the world would I be better than she is? I had no idea I was a witch until recently."
"That's because of who she got her job from." Mila sighed. "Some see her position as something better, more sacred than the importance of your average witch. Gelwyn in particular."
"Wren," Gilly said softly. "Lark was supposed to be the next Valley Keeper but she refused it and gave it to Gelwyn. Lark always wanted to travel around, and the Valley Keeper can't do that."
I didn't know what to say to that, so I said nothing. Gelwyn was... jealous? It was hard to reconcile the thought with that proud witch that gazed up at Mila when we first arrived.
"Come, child," Mila said tiredly. "Bring the milk from Gilly. Your friends will wake soon and we must make sure you are fed before your test."
I lifted the container gently, trying to settle it comfortably in my arms.
"I'll be watching your test, Wren," Gilly said as she gave me a gentle squeeze to my hand. "Good luck."
My mouth was dry as I nodded.
"Yeah, see you later."
And I followed Mila back to her cottage.